Into The Demon's Den
by Evil Cheshire Cat
Summary: Reuploaded; has new updates on it. Ryoma thought housesitting would be easy. No one told him, unfortunately, that he was watching a haunted house. Pairings; FujiRyoma, MomoRyoma, kind of KamioRyoma
1. Default Chapter

"Into the Demon's Den"

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis. I don't own The Grudge. If you're expecting something witty, keep looking.

Pairings: MomoRyoma (classic pairing), kind of KamioRyoma (my crack pairing), FujiRyoma (my ultimate favorite pairing)

Warnings: Character deaths Sadness

* * *

It was a chilly day, like any day in winter should be. Light grey clouds were blocking the sun at points, though the sun did try valiantly to shine. Fat, white snow flakes started drifting down and clinging to trees and the ground. Students milled outside of the high school, discussing what they were going to do with the two week winter break that had only started five minutes earlier.

At least the majority were talking, others had paused to watch a shouting match between two Juniors. "What's the idea of hitting on MY boyfriend? Huh? HUH! HUH!" Momo exclaimed.

"I was just-"

"HUH! HUH!"

"Trying to help" Kamio snapped. "He was cold and you were too stupid to notice!"

Momo's cheeks puffed just a little in frustration and he shrugged out of the jacket he was wearing. He shoved it to one of close up bystanders. "Here, Echizen!"

"…Momo-sempai, I think it's a little late for you to be proving you're not oblivious. ….Plus, Kamio-sempai's jacket is warmer." Which was true; it was lined with a nice soft fur and combined with the weight of Ryoma's own jacket made it very comfortable.

Momo stared at Ryoma with a shocked expression for a moment. "HA!" Kamio smirked. "Baka!"

"Who are you calling a baka!"

"There's only one baka here right now"

"You wanna take this outside!"

"We ARE outside!"

Ryoma and Shinji watched the battle soon degenerate into a slap fight. People watching them watch were beginning to wonder if they'd be jumping in at any moment to stop their friends. "Echizen-kun."

Ryoma looked at his blue haired sempai. "Nani?"

"I need a favor of you. It's to watch someone's house. Atobe's house. Hm. I don't know why he asked me to do it…I don't even think we're friends…Well, we're not enemies either…he must be very desperate to have asked me," Shinji said absently.

Ryoma stared blankly at him as he continued to talk. "…Ibu-sempai, why do you need me to do it?"

Shinji came back to himself. "I have plans. He didn't even bother asking me, as if I had nothing possibly planned. He's so rude-"

"I'll do it." If only to keep him from going on and on was Ryoma wanted to say.

"Excellent. You'll have to go over there tomorrow."

"….Ibu-sempai, why didn't you ask me sooner?"

"….I must have forgot. It's not my fault." Shinji frowned a little. Ryoma sighed; why couldn't he just have NORMAL sempai like everyone else?

* * *

The next day was even darker than the one before. The clouds had turned an angry almost black color. The wind was sweeping by, making the air seem colder. It was too cold to even snow right now, cold enough to freeze the ground.

Ryoma leaned against one of his bags, one of his sweaters sitting under him so he wouldn't have to sit on the icing over sidewalk. He glanced at the street before sighing and closing his eyes. Kamio-sempai was bound to be there any minute to give him a ride; why Ibu-sempai couldn't do it since he requested it, he didn't know. All he knew is he wanted to be in his nice warm bed sleeping with Karupin nuzzled against his stomach.

He was a little angry at Momo-sempai as well. They were boyfriends; didn't they help each other out if they needed it? But Momo-sempai was too busy; something about studying. Ryoma really didn't buy that. Momo-sempai just wanted to sleep most likely.

Not for the first time, he wondered if things would have been different with Kamio-sempai. The other boy seemed genuinely in tune with Ryoma. He actually thought of him on more than absent occasions. But whenever Ryoma got ready to dump Momo-sempai, he would do something nice. And Ryoma knew he was no poster boy for awareness either, so he had no right to judge, right?

"Oi, Echizen-kun," he started at the voice. He opened his eyes to see his sempai leaning over him. "Thought you had frozen to death there for a minute," he grinned a little. "Ready to go?"

"Un," he said absently. He just wanted to get there so he could find a place to sleep. That's all he wanted right now. Sleep. "….Thank you, Kamio-sempai," he found himself saying. He didn't usually say thanks but he deserved it really.

Kamio grinned a little as he started lifting the bags into his car. "No problem. Anything to help out. I like helping people."

"….no you don't."

"…Er. I like helping you?"

"Hn." Ryoma snorted a little as he tucked the last bag in and got into the passenger's seat. He curled up a little. Six days he'd be away from his normal life. Six days from his father. Six days from Momo-sempai. Six days of no school. Bliss.

He felt the car jar a little as Kamio got in and started it. He allowed himself to be lulled into a half sleep state. He wasn't sure how long he was able to do that, stay in the dreamy state…but too soon he felt the car stop.

He opened his eyes to slits, staring at a fence. He grunted a little. "Wow, I never this place belonged to Atobe."

Ryoma slowly looked up the house and raised an eyebrow. He wasn't too surprised that this belonged to the "monkey king". The house rested up above some of the others by being on a hill. A fence surrounded the area from prying eyes but one could see some of the house. It looked to be off white and with a brown roof. He wasn't too impressed personally.

"Let's get these bags inside, ne?" Kamio called, all ready pulling some out.

"Hai," Ryoma returned, stepping out and picking one of the lighter bags. He walked to the front gate, slowly pushing it open. He peeked inside. He wasn't sure what the yard looked like before winter but now everything was dead and under a layer of snow that was becoming icier. The trees were bare, the branches looking like bleached bones. The bushes to the side looked shriveled. The rest of the house was the same off white they had seen from outside the gate.

Slowly, Ryoma headed up the sloped walk. He touched the knob of the door and almost jerked back. It felt…cold. And not the type of cold brought on by the winter. The winter chill didn't seem to strike deep into your soul, or wrap around your heart and squeeze. "You're going to have trouble getting in," Kamio commented as he came up. Ryoma looked at him curiously. "Shinji forgot to give you the key."

"…Ibu-sempai…" he scowled.

Kamio chuckled a little, pulling out the key. "Luckily he told me to give it to you." He unlocked the door before holding out the golden key.

Ryoma stared at it. There was still a chance that he could just forget watching this house and go home. He could leave this house that had a creepy aura seeming to ooze out of it now that the lock had been undone.

He took it slowly, clutching it close. Kamio carried the bags inside. Ryoma slowly took hold of the doorknob again. It was just chilled like the outside; no soul deep freeze. He sighed, letting it go and going in.

He stared with amazement. He was not one to be easily amazed but this house deserved it. Cushy furniture with mostly deep red covers was arranged to sit around a coffee table and a TV. In another room was a dining room that had a low, dark oak kotatsu table with a grey blanket came down the sides. There was a gold colored stair case that led to the upstairs that looked like there were four rooms from what he could see.

"Fancy," Kamio murmured. "I wouldn't mind staying here for a few days."

Ryoma opened his mouth, thinking to offer it to him, but all that came out was "Too bad."

Kamio looked at him. "Echizen-kun, all heart."

"Mada mada dane," he smirked, setting his bag down. "Thank you for the ride, Kamio-sempai."

The red head waved his hand. "I was going by here anyone. Call if you need anything. I'll help out. Unlike that lazy, ungratefull-"

"All right, Kamio-sempai," Ryoma said quickly before he heard the tirade about lazy Momo-sempai. "I'm sure you're pretty busy."

Kamio said something under his breath but headed for the door. "Try not to have too much fun, at least not without me."

"Hai, if I have any parties, you'll be the first I call." Ryoma watched him leave before he turned back to face the interior. It seemed so….silent without Kamio there. A deathly silence that filled the house.

He shuddered a little before he picked up his bags. He dropped the one that had a few books and videos on the couch, another with his clothes was set by the stairs, and finally he took his last bag to the kitchen. He had opted to bring his own food, unsure of if Atobe would really want someone eating his food.

He sighed to himself and set to putting the food away. He glanced at the note that was scribbled on a small yellow sheet of paper. Basic stuff. Call if you needed anything, people that should be notified in case of emergencies, keep your hands off the really expensive looking stuff. The usual thing.

That was crumpled up and tossed over his shoulder in the general area of where he had seen a trash can. Once everything was in places he could easily get to it, he went back to the staircase and grabbed the bag with his clothes in it.

He walked up the stairs slowly and paused at the first landing. He gazed at the upper level, at the cream colored walls and the four rooms. He wasn't sure how long he stood there, staring, or even WHY he was staring. Something in him was just making him hesitate. He quickly shook of this feeling of uneasy and started walking again. It was just first night jitters; he wasn't used to being alone in a relatively big house.

He paused at the first room, glancing in. A plain bathroom with a silver tub and blue wallpaper. He went to the next, which turned out to just be a study with a table that had a computer resting on it. Atobe must've been in a hurry; it was still on and blinking a little. He went onto the third room and peeked in.

He pushed open the door fully when he realized it was the bedroom. He stared, not sure if it was an impressed feeling in him or….still quite a disinterested one. The bed was big. It looked like it could fit five people rather than one or two. "What's he need a bed that big for?" he found himself muttering out loud and immediately shut his mouth with a slight 'click'. His voice sounded so strange in this emptiness…it just seemed to have that effect on him. Plus if he voiced those thoughts out loud, he might start to begin to imagine and he didn't want to imagine the monkey king like THAT.

He set to distracting himself by looking around the room. The bed had been colored by a deep blue cover and he could see a few more white sheets under the covers up by the pillows. A large dresser that could have doubled as a mini-closet stood next to the actual closet. The bed was situated in such a way that every morning the occupant, or occupants as the case probably was, would be struck with the first rays of sunshine that would come in from the large bay windows. Ryoma scowled to himself; he was certainly going to change THAT. Vacation meant sleeping in, not waking up at the crack of dawn.

He put his bag down by the door and went over to the bed. He looked from one side of himself to the other, as if expecting someone to suddenly pop out. When Ryoma determined that wasn't going to happen, he flopped onto the bed face first. The bed gave a slight give way before sending him back up a little.

He felt himself grinning and rolled onto his back. This seemed like an all right bed if he was in. But that thought was bringing up his imagination again and he quickly sat up. He shook his head with a sigh, before looking at the bed again.

Well, it was a bed and all….he should really use it. Not only that but his little power nap hadn't done much for him. He set his feet on the ground and quickly padded to the bag. He dug through the clothes and quickly donned his pajamas.

He ruffled his own hair, stretching. He blinked has he thought he saw something by the closet. But it was gone too quickly so he wrote it off as a shadow, or at the very worst, a mouse. He wandered back to the bed and crawled under the covers. He snuggled the pillows, pulling the covers up snuggly. THIS was what a vacation was supposed to be.

* * *

He wasn't sure at first what had woken him. But then slowly, his senses came to awareness. He realized what had been jarring him awake had been feet. Small feet but feet nonetheless. When this finally registered with his brain, he shot up and flung out his hand. His arm connected with something.

There was a thud and he carefully looked over the side of a bed. He frowned. It was….a cat. A reddish furred cat was lying on its back; its blue eyes crossed slightly with pain and shock. "…….nyao…." it said weakly.

Ryoma blinked owlishly. "…Neko?" he questioned as if the cat would magically turn into something else now.

"…nyao" the cat still seemed a bit dazed as it rolled onto its feet. Its tail went straight up and it huffed a little.

"Er, gomen. I didn't realize Atobe had a cat," he murmured. He hadn't seen anything for a cat, nothing on the instructions either. Maybe it was a stray…but the cat seemed to think it owned the place. Although that seemed to be a trait all cats had.

This is what he had seen earlier. The cat wanted to escape the cold, so why not come into the house. He wouldn't have been surprised if a window had been left open and it had slipped in that way.

The cat seemed to have gotten over being knocked off the bed because it had crawled backed up. It padded around Ryoma for a moment. "Do you have a name?" Ryoma questioned. It didn't seem so eerie to talk out loud now that he had someone here.

The cat gave him a 'well duh' expression. He chuckled a little. "I wish you could tell me it." The cat gazed at him with intense eyes. "You seem like….an Eiji almost." There was a loud purr. "Eiji? You like that?"

The cat meowed its agreement. Ryoma had to smile a little. Maybe he wouldn't be totally alone in this house. Maybe company would make the creepy feeling go away.

He rolled a little, looking at the clock. It was…evening? He frowned; that couldn't be right. He got out of the bed, well aware of Eiji's eyes on him. He opened the curtains he had drawn closed. It was dark outside. Great. He had slept the entire day and now he was going to have to stay up late until he probably fell asleep on the couch.

There was a meow from Eiji before the cat padded from the room. Ryoma sighed. No use mourning over it. He'd just have to deal. After all, it wasn't like he needed to sleep tonight and be up early for anything. He went out of the room, going down the stairs.

Once more he stopped on the landing. It was strange….he felt like someone was watching him. He could feel as if eyes were staring right at him. Some how he knew that whoever was staring at him was at the top of the stairs. He swallowed, slowly turning.

No one was there. It was dark and barren up on the second floor except the light that spilled from the bed room. With a sharp inner scolding, he turned back to walking down the stairs. He was pretty foolish. He was getting scared over nothing. It was something a teenage girl would do; not Echizen Ryoma.

Eiji was pacing at the bottom of the stairs. "Are you hungry?" Ryoma asked, going to the kitchen. The cat practically pranced after. Ryoma shifted through the fridge, pulling out some of his food before going back into the living room. He wasn't going to use the dining room; that was for if you had other people with you.

He opened his suitcase, rooting through the bag until he came upon a movie. He wasn't all too sure what he had grabbed in truth. He had just pushed some stuff in his bag and that had been the end of it. The movie was something foreign; from America probably. 'Hellraiser' had been scrawled across the case in red marker. Shrugging to himself, he put it in before setting back. Eiji hopped up beside him, stealing from his plate.

He was through about half the movie when he felt the eyes again. He snorted to himself. He wasn't being tricked by his subconscious again. He was just going to pay attention to the movie. But this time there was the creak of floorboards; the soft scuff of bare feet. It was just the house settling. Eiji didn't seem to disturbed by the noise.

He reached over a little blindly to side table he had set his Ponta on. His eyes were still riveted to the TV; though he wasn't positive if it was because he was fascinated with the movie itself or if he just didn't want to look behind him.

He tensed up as his hand brushed against something decidedly NOT his can. It felt like...flesh. Cold, hardened flesh. He jerked his hand back and looked sharply. Nothing was there except his Ponta can. And a glass of blue liquid.

A glass that hadn't been there when he sat down. He frowned deeply. Where had it come from. Cautiously he leaned in, sniffing at the drink. It didn't SMELL bad…but it was bubbling. What really pressed down on his mind was….where had it come from? He was willing to believe feeling the eyes was from being in a strange house. He was willing to believe that the sounds behind him had been the house settling. He couldn't believe that the glass had been there this entire time and he never noticed it.

He jumped in surprise when Eiji landed on the end table, hissing and yowling before the cat knocked the glass down. "Hey!" Ryoma sputtered, surprised. Eiji's fur arched a little, swiping a paw in the direction behind the couch.

Ryoma gave a little frustrated sigh. Cats were just so weird sometimes. He was positive Eiji was hissing at nothing. And now he had a blue mess to clean up. He stood, stretching. Eiji rested on the table top, tail curled around his feet and yowling low in the back of his throat.

He stepped over the liquid, not liking how it continued bubbling a little. After he cleared the disaster area, he looked up and froze. In the kitchen…it was foolish, but he thought he saw the shape of a tall man. It was just the hazy outlines, nothing too definite. There was the barest of glints, as if the light had just hit something reflective.

He swallowed. Maybe the mess could…wait. He looked down and frowned. No. Atobe would have a fit if he came back to a stained floor. Besides, there was nothing in there. It was all just a trick of his mind.

The trip to the kitchen never seemed so long; the figure never left even as he neared. He supposed it was a good thing that it never lost its hazy shape. That meant it was probably nothing. Even though it seemed to shift out of the way, it was probably nothing. Ryoma stepped into the kitchen, wishing he hadn't turned off the light now. He felt along the wall, trying to find where the damn switch was and ignore the distinct presence of…something.

There was the soft scuff of bare feet again, closer this time. He felt as if something was standing right next to him. He could feel the heat of another body. He could smell something that was almost like…it was burning. There was the underlying bitter scent of burning wood and burning….something. He couldn't decide what that second scent was.

His free hand clenched as he thought he heard the sound of a voice whispering. It was so close to his ear he could feel the breath that carried the scent of rotting in general…but they weren't words he could understand. It was too soft and possibly in some language he didn't know.

The light switch seemed to jump into his hand and he flicked it on in one hurried move. He looked around sharply, doing a tight circle. No one was there. It was just him and the cat. He let out a deep breath. It was the movie that had him so keyed up. No matter how he'd tell himself he wasn't scared of a movie, it had happened. It was probably a combination of things.

He grabbed a rag and left the kitchen, making sure to leave the light on this time. The monkey king was rich; he could afford to pay a bit more into his light bill. He crouched down to mop up the mess. Eiji was watching him now; he was probably laughing silently at how foolish he had been acting.

Or maybe, Eiji was sympathizing. He had read somewhere that animals were usually in tune with things that people could not see. With the way the cat had been acting, maybe it didn't seem so foolish to think someone had been in there with him.

Once the glass shards and liquid were all taken care of, Ryoma looked to the TV. The movie had ended. An hour and a half had gone by. With a sigh, he went through the bag again. He came up with a movie that had "Yabu no Naka no Kuroneko" scrawled on it. He turned to Eiji, "Want to watch?" he questioned. "Has cat monsters in it."

Eiji's ears twitched up at that. He watched Ryoma put the video in then lie down. Once Ryoma was situated, Eiji stepped on his head so he could get to his chest. Once there, he curled himself up in a position to see the television screen. Once again, it didn't seem so scary in the house anymore.

* * *

He wasn't sure when he fell asleep. He couldn't even be sure that he HAD fallen asleep. What felt like only a little while ago, he had had energy from sleeping all day. There was something about this house…no. It was probably the vacation mindset getting to work. Every vacation he made sure to sleep as much as possible.

He stirred a little. There was a slightly heavy weight on himself. At some point during his dozing he must have dragged the blanket over himself. His blurry gaze looked down at his chest. The reddish furred cat had left its curled position and was now sprawled on his chest.

His eyes rolled up again. He should get up. He really should. But he was so comfortable. How unfair was that? Atobe got to have a couch that was as comfy as a bed; his couch was lumpy and to sleep on it meant to have a backache for days.

At some point the movie had ended and now on the TV was static snow. He looked to the VCR only to find that it was blinking twelve. He smirked a little; even the rich didn't know how to program VCRs apparently. The smirk quickly vanished when he thought he heard something under the sound of static.

It wasn't clear. It was very faint. Ryoma wasn't even sure why he had noticed it. It slowly became more defined; it was the sound of a scream. He sat up, clutching a disoriented Eiji who had just been woken to his chest. Something inside him told him that the scream wasn't coming from outside.

The television began to flicker, th static bending a little. The scream got louder; no longer faint, no longer holding the ability to pretend there was something horrible happening outside. The scream was soon joined by others. These weren't terrified screams; these sounded like screams of pain, the worst kind of pain imaginable.

Ryoma let go of Eiji to cover his ears. It looked like something was beginning to take shape in the static so he quickly closed his eyes. If he didn't see it or hear it, then it couldn't hurt him. At least that's what he liked to believe.

There was the smell of burning again and it suddenly seemed to click. The burning smell was as if someone was burning tires. It was as if someone had tossed a bunch of rubber tires on top of burning wood. This revelation didn't make him feel any better though.

Eiji moved against him, curling up calmly at his feet. The cat should have been freaking out; like it had earlier when he found that glass of…whatever-it-was. Maybe there was nothing going on and Ryoma was just crazy.

He could feel something leaning towards him. Not physically, of course; if he had felt that, he really would have freaked out. It was more like the sixth sense telling him someone or something was close. The air was shifting differently, like it was going around some object before reaching him.

But then everything went deathly quiet once more. He risked opening his eyes and uncovering his ears. Eiji was still curled at his feet like nothing happened, the television's static was completely normal. He jumped in surprise when there was a loud pounding on the door. "Oi! Echizen! I know you're in there!" came Momo's annoyed voice.

Quickly, Ryoma got up, padding over to the door. "Momo-sempai?"

Momo huffed, "Geez, I've been out here for five minutes to get your attention. You sleep like the dead sometimes." He came in and started to take off his shoes. Ryoma looked outside. He had fallen asleep for longer than he thought; it was daytime again.

"…What are you doing here?"

"Thought I'd keep you company for a little while!" the older boy grinned brightly. He looked around. "Saaaaa, what a nice place!"

"Hn," Ryoma grumbled. He wouldn't show it but he was actually kind of happy that his sempai was here. Eiji hadn't forced his fears away so maybe another human could. He followed Momo into the living room.

Momo easily dropped onto the couch. "Hey, sorry about not bringing you here, I was-"

"Whatever," Ryoma said. He didn't want to hear excuses. He sat next to his boyfriend, leaning against him. These were the times that he was glad he had Momo for a boyfriend. Now if only his sempai wouldn't talk so much or so loud…That was easily cured though most of the time.

He tugged Momo down, pressing his lips to his. Momo eagerly turned more towards him, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy. There. Problem solved. Actually, it was a couple of problems solved.

"They got a bed room here? Ne?" Momo asked when he pulled out of the kiss.

Ryoma rolled his eyes a little. "No, Momo-sempai, he sleeps on his couch."

"Man, that has to get uncomfortable."

"…Just follow me." Ryoma sighed, taking his hand and leading him upstairs.

* * *

"Man, Atobe is going to be pissed when he finds out what we did in his bed," Momo commented, putting his arms behind his head.

Ryoma pillowed his head on Momo's chest. "That's part of the reason I did it."

"What? You needed a reason?" There was a slight shrug. "Echizen is so mean!"

"Momo-sempai, you needed a reason too. They're different reasons but still…"

"Wait…what?"

"Never mind." Ryoma grumbled. Sometimes he really wanted to smack his sempai. He wondered if all boyfriends talked this much. He shifted a little, wincing in pain. "Maa, you were rough again."

"Gomen" Momo grinned, "Didn't mean to."

"Hnnn." Ryoma watched Momo begin dozing. He frowned as a pained sensation started in his hip. 'Did that baka bite me?' he wondered, hand going to his hip. He frowned as he felt the slippery sensation of blood. "…Momo-sempai!" He growled out loud. Had he bitten hard enough to make him bleed?

He quickly got out of bed, going to the bathroom. Momo never even stirred. He went to the mirror and twisted so he could see his hip. He blinked as he saw the blood following a slight trail. He grabbed a cloth, holding it over the wound and wondering exactly how badly he had been bitten.

After wiping away the blood, he looked again. He wasn't a bite….it was kanji. "Eh?" It looked like it had been carved in his skin. Now he knew Momo wouldn't do that; especially if the kanji wasn't his own name. "…Fu….ji?" he said out loud in confusion. "What the…" He hurried out of the bathroom to the bed. "Momo-sempai!" he shook the older boy.

"nn….the dog ate my homework," Momo said in his sleep, shifting a little.

"…Momo-sempai, wake up!"

"What is it?" he asked groggily.

"Did you do this?" Ryoma demanded, pointing to the kanji.

Momo sat up, frowning. "Why would I do that? Where'd you get it from?"

"…Why would I be asking if I knew?" Ryoma asked in an exasperated tone. He craned his neck to look down at mark.

The phone suddenly started ringing. Momo frowned. "Who could that be?"

"Answer it," Ryoma demanded, still looking at his wound. He would have answered it but he was trying to figure out where he could have gotten "Fuji" written on him in the span of an hour.

He heard Momo grumble something about demanding boyfriends before he heard, "Oi The phone up here is missing."

Ryoma glanced up and sure enough the cordless phone was gone. "Then go downstairs.

"Seesh you don't have to be so mean," the older boy complained, slipping into some clothes. Ryoma wriggled into his own. After the pained sensation he got when his jeans went over the cut, he shoved the jeans low to avoid it.

He went over to the charger, looking it over. He pressed the "locate phone" button and paused, listening for any sound. There was a soft beeping noise. He looked around the room, trying to pinpoint it. He peeked under the bed and into the closet. That's when he realized the sound was coming from above him.

In the closet, part of the ceiling had been moved out of the way. An attic was above him. He carefully went inside the closet and moved the piece of board out of the way. He was too short to be able to get up into the attic easily so he griped the sides of the square gap and hoisted himself up.

He could hear the beeping there but he couldn't see the phone. The attic had no windows and didn't seem to have a light. He sighed a little. He tugged himself up, feet kicking a little as they left the ground.

He floundered for a minute as he grabbed onto part of a plank to pull himself in further. He looked around, lying on his stomach. He brightened when he spotted the flashing light. He crawled towards it until his hand touched something that wasn't wood.

Time seemed to freeze as he felt the soft silk under his finger tips. He swallowed slightly and looked up. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness and he could make out a distinct shape. The floor seemed to tremble a little as Momo came back up the stairs. The object fell forward onto Ryoma. Ryoma's golden eyes stared into dulled blue ones head on. He flailed wildly, batting the dead body off of him.

He flopped backwards. His eyes took in the blue hue of the body. It had felt cold and stiff when it had toppled on top of Ryoma. "Oi, Echizen!" he heard Momo call, "That was some hotel. They said Atobe isn't there. Echizen?"

Ryoma scrambled to the opening banging his legs as he scrambled out. Momo looked surprised, glancing into the closet. "…..I think I know why he wasn't there," he commented.

* * *

Kamio had never drive so fast in his life, he was positive of that. When he reached the house that now had a couple of police cars and an ambulance in it, he got out of the car and raced up to the door. An officer stopped him, "Out of the way," he commanded.

"We can't just let you in."

"Look, I'm Kamio Akira, I was called for Echizen."

The officer gave him a look before he slowly stepped back. Kamio hurried in. Ryoma was curled up on one of the couches, eyes huge and staring at nothing. Momo was by his side, one hand on his arm. "Echizen-kun," he breathed. He rushed over. "Echizen-kun, are you all right?"

Ryoma looked at him a little blankly. All three teenagers' attention was diverted when two attendants brought down a blanket covered stretched. The movement jarred the body beneath that one of the discolored arms fell loose. Kamio felt Ryoma shudder. He couldn't really blame him.

Kamio wrapped an arm around Ryoma's shoulders, pointedly ignoring Momo's glare. The two older boys glanced up as two officers came over to him. "Hello, I'm Detective Nakagawa. This is Detective Azuma." The older man gestured to the younger, "Azuma is going to take Echizen-san here to a hospital."

"Hospital?" Momo frowned, "But he isn't hurt."

"As you can plainly see, he's in shock. We just want to have him under observation for the night." Nakagawa nodded to his partner. Azuma gently took Ryoma's arm, pulling him from between the two.

After Ryoma and Azuma had left the house, Nakagawa once again turned to them. "First may I ask what were you doing in this house?" he asked of Momo.

"I was visiting Echizen," he shrugged. "I thought he was probably going to get lonely house sitting all by himself…"

"Tch, if he had gotten lonely, he could have called me," Kamio grumbled.

"Well no one asked you, did they?"

"Teme-"

Nakagawa coughed to interrupt them, "I see. So Atobe-san asked Echizen-san to watch the house?"

Kamio shook his head, "Atobe originally asked Shinji to do it. Shinji wasn't all that happy about it either, I think that's why he asked Echizen to do it for him."

"When did he come here?"

"I dropped him off…" Kamio thought for a minute, "it feels like weeks ago now but it was yesterday morning I think."

"You dropped him off? Was Atobe-san here then?"

"No...We just assumed that he had left earlier than we arrived."

"When WAS the last time you saw him?"

"The day before winter break," Momo put in, "He was talking to one of the teachers or something."

Nakagawa added this to his little notebook. "Thank you for your time."

"No problem," Momo offered. He blinked as Kamio stood. "And where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to see Echizen-kun!"

"No one said you could!"

"I don't need permission to do so!"

"Teme!" Nakagawa sighed; he wasn't going to envy the kid if he had to put up with THIS.

TBC

Author's Notes: Third time uploading this stupid story. Rar. That stucked but oh well. Hope you enjoyed the updates.

If you want to kill me for killing Atobe…er, please don't? You can maim me, but leave enough to finish the story. Don't kill me for the other deaths too? Meep.


	2. Chapter 2

Into the Demon's Den Chapter 2

Surprised to see me? I am too. Author's note at the end! Idea thanks to The Grudge and Ju-On! Beware the OOC! And the lack of beta-readerness. I'm looking for one, would you like the job?

* * *

Ryoma stared at the white ceiling, slowly counting the small holes. He had come out of his shocked haze a little while ago, only to find himself in a hospital room. He vaguely recalled how he had gotten there, the circumstances that had forced him there.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes. He now had a bandage over his hip. The kanji was going to scar. He touched the bandage. Nobody better see it. If it had to scar, he hoped it would be very faint. Or at the very least that he'd be with Momo for a long time and he'd be the only one seeing his hips.

"Momo! Get out of the way!"

"No way, Kamio! You can't see him!"

"If you two both don't quiet, neither of you will be able to see him," a nurse snapped.

"Gomen," the two intoned. Ryoma listened to their feet echo in the hallways before the door opened. Both older boys tried to enter after the nurse but got stuck. One warning look from said nurse kept them from beginning to argue.

"You only have a little while. Echizen needs his rest." She watched them finally come in before leaving. "And no arguing."

Momo grumbled while Kamio made a quick move to Ryoma. "Echizen-kun, I-" he went to hug the boy but was jerked back by Momo.

"You can't hug someone's boyfriend, you can't!" Momo said, holding onto Ryoma possessively.

"Well he's my friend!"

"Friends does not allow you to grope them!"

Ryoma sighed as they argued once more. Kamio took the other side of the bed so he could face his rival a bit more. Ryoma shut them both up by tugging Kamio down close to him. "You're giving me a headache," he muttered once he was sandwich between the two.

"Echizen?" Momo questioned, a little disturbed to be this close to Kamio and not yelling at him.

"You're giving me a headache," he repeated.

"Er…sorry? We can stop if you want?" Kamio commented, looking as disturbed as Momo.

"Hn," was their only answer.

After a half hour, Momo had made Ryoma move over so he could get comfortable. Now the powerhouse was snoozing softly, unaware of Kamio and Ryoma's ludicrous stares. "How can he sleep at a time like this?" Kamio muttered. "And can I have my arm back, Echizen-kun?"

"Yada." Ryoma said grumpily, clinging to the arm with both of his.

Kamio sighed. At least he had been able to sit down in a chair finally. "I can't believe Atobe is dead…I wonder what killed him."

"I don't want to know," Ryoma shuddered. "I don't even know WHY monkey king was living in that house. It was creepy."

"Creepy?" Kamio took notice. It was rare when Ryoma admitted to feeling something other than grumpy or indifferent.

"Yeah…it was like someone was watching me…and it was just strange. I didn't like it."

"Why didn't you call me if you were scared?"

"I wasn't scared!" Ryoma snapped. "Just…unnerved."

Kamio rolled his eyes, "Why didn't you call me if you were unnerved then?"

He shrugged, "It was no big deal."

"There could have been a killer or something in the house!" Kamio shook his head, "It's a good thing you're out of there."

"….Who knew you could so over protective." Ryoma snorted.

"Who knew you could be so mean?"

"Everyone."

"…Good point."

Ryoma yawned a little, lying back. He was suddenly tired. Everything seemed to be catching up with again. His eyes slowly closed and he jerked them open. Kamio smiled a little at him. "Go to sleep, Echizen-kun, I really don't think we're going anywhere." There was a soft sigh as Ryoma drifted off.

* * *

Ryoma jerked awake as he heard something clatter to the floor. He sat up straight, blinking groggily. The lights had been dimmed in his room; Kamio and Momo were gone. They must have gotten kicked out. He rubbed his eyes with the back of one hand and looked around.

A shiver worked across his body. He looked to the window. At some point it had been opened. It might have been fine for the afternoon, when it was relatively warm despite the month, but now it was too cold. The wind had blown over an empty container that probably held water at some point.

He got up and stumbled to the window. He dragged it down, yawning as he did so. He went back to the bed. He wasn't sure why he was so sleepy…He sat down heavily. He jolted as he felt something wrap around his ankle.

It felt much like the thing he had felt in the house when reaching for his Ponta. It was stiff and felt a little like leather. But where that one had been cold, this was warm. He yelped as he scrambled up to get away. All he wound up doing, though, was landing flat on the ground.

The grip became tighter. He winced and rolled onto his back. He looked under the bed. Some….thing was there. What had grabbed him was a hand…a dark red hand. Flesh was peeling off it, revealing muscles that pumped blood onto the floor.

His eyes widened as the thing crawled out. It looked vaguely like a human. Its clothing was in tatters with burnt edges. The rest of its body was ugly red shade with black tints. Ryoma jolted as eyes suddenly opened, revealing the strangest shade of blue eyes he had ever seen.

It crawled out slowly, still keeping a grip on Ryoma's leg. Ryoma came out of his shock long enough to start trying to pull free. Whatever it was didn't seem deterred by his struggles. The young teenager shuddered at the sickening sound of flesh hitting the floor.

Then…everything seemed to go hazy. A veil of sleepiness overtook his mind once more. He tried to keep his eyes open but it was just too hard. His head lolled to one side. His eyes opened to the barest of slits to look at the creature. Only now…it didn't seem so horrific. Ryoma could tell it was a young man now, with slightly pale skin and light brown hair. The clothing was whole; a nice ensemble of black jeans that hugged the man's legs and a blood red shirt that had belled sleeves. Those eyes though….they were the same as the creature's eyes. The strange blue…

His eyes clenched shut again as he felt the hand that had been holding his ankle move up. He shuddered at the soft touch. The man over him shifted, gently pressing down and making Ryoma shudder again. It was so strange; he could feel the roughness of this person's clothing through the flimsy paper gown he had been issued and against his all ready bared skin. He could feel the brunette's soft breath on his neck and there was the soft touch of lips there. It felt so nice…

But something about it seemed wrong…he moaned, though he wasn't quite sure if it from pleasure or confusion. One thing was for sure, he hadn't felt like this with Momo in a long time. Momo's touches these days never seemed so gentle. This blue eyed being seemed to have both their pleasure in interest; not just seeking the ending satisfaction. He could feel the hand that had paused at the beginning of his thigh travel up further while the other braced itself on the ground.

The lips trailed down his neck, licking at the small hollow of his throat. The light haired teenager paused in his slowly path downwards when he came to the top of the gown. The hand that had been petting his thigh paused. Ryoma felt him rise. He had to bite back the whimper that wanted to come lose as the contact was lost. But then cool air was running over his body. He felt a blush rise on his as he realized this person had moved the gown up.

The hand went back to his thigh, inching up it towards the boxers while the man's mouth began exploring his chest. Ryoma squirmed against him, head lolling to the other side.

He cried out suddenly when a hand brutally grabbed the hip that still had the painful scar on it. The person shifted, putting his lips to Ryoma's ear. There was a soft rush of warm air. "You're mine, Ryoma-kun," the words were thick and sweet sounding but had an almost underlining growl in them. "Understand? Mine."

Ryoma let out a startled gasp, squeezing his heavy feeling eyes shut. He wasn't sure how long he did that but the next thing he knew he was being shaken. "Echizen-san! Wake up!"

He flailed as he sat up. "E-eh!" he looked around wildly.

The nurse sighed in relief. "Thank god. For a minute there I thought you got like a concussion or went into a coma or something," he grinned.

"What happened?" Ryoma questioned groggily.

"I think you were having a nightmare. I called the doctors and they said you might have them. So…it's nothing to worry about. Unless you hurt yourself when you fell out of bed. …You didn't, did you?"

Ryoma looked up at the bed. Nothing seemed amiss now. He looked at his ankle; it had gotten tangled up in the sheets. It HAD been a nightmare. The hand was just the sheet. He smiled a little. "I'm…okay," he murmured, wincing at the pain in his hip. He must have fallen on it. That's all there was too it.

The young nurse looked even more relieved and helped Ryoma back into bed. "Well, hopefully you won't have anymore nightmares, ne?"

"Hn," was all Ryoma uttered. Despite the fact that he really wanted to believe it was all a nightmare…it just wouldn't settle. He pulled the covers higher; he was just being foolish. That was all. Had it been a young man? Or a creature? Either way, ITS words still drifted in his mind. He shuddered in remembrance. He pressed his head tighter against the pillow and willed himself to sleep.

* * *

What had happened that night stuck with him. Ryoma couldn't get it to leave his mind. Every time he tried to prove to himself it was only a nightmare, something inside him pointed out the logical part of it. He cursed himself, clutching his head. When had the existence of….monsters become logical?

"Oi, Echizen, got a headache?" Momo asked as he came into the hospital room. Surprisingly enough, Kamio hadn't trailed after. He must have been busy. Ryoma was kind of thankful for that; he really didn't want to break up any fights.

"A bit of one," he muttered. "What are you doing here?"

"The doctor says you shouldn't be alone for a little while. In case your nightmares get worse."

"I only had one," he scowled angrily.

Momo held up one of his hands. The other tossed his a light duffle bag. "Fresh clothes," he said when he saw Ryoma's confusion. "I figured you could stay with me since your parents are out of town."

"hn, I would have been fine."

"Maaa, you don't have to be such a brat about it," Momo sulked.

Ryoma rolled his eyes at his sempai's behavior. He went into the bathroom when it became apparent that Momo wasn't going to step out. He pulled out the clothing. These were the times he was glad he had given his boyfriend a key to his family's apartment. Other times, he wasn't so glad…

Soon he stepped out and went to get his shoes that a nurse had brought in sometime during the morning when he slept. They left the hospital with no hassles. After Ryoma had stepped out into the fresh air, everything seemed a bit better. Maybe it had been the hospital itself that had induced his nightmare. He wasn't sure how THAT would happen but it was possible.

He felt so much better that he actually allowed Momo to wrap an arm around his shoulders. Usually he would shrug the other boy off and grumpily walk a few inches from him. Ryoma tightened his coat around himself as a sudden breeze came forth. "Isn't winter great?" Momo said as they made their way to the bus stop.

"Hn, what's so great about it? It's cold." Ryoma shook his head.

"But it gives us a reason to cuddle up," came the cheerful point and Momo tugged him closer. Ryoma let out a huff. "Whaaaaat? Don't you like cuddling with me?"

"Only if you're quiet."

"I can be quiet!"

"Remember that time I bet you my lunch if you couldn't keep your mouth shut for five minutes? Yeah, you didn't exactly win, now did you?"

"It's not my fault," he whined. "It was Kamio's!"

"…He sat down with us."

"Exactly!"

"….that fiend." Ryoma sighed as he boarded the bus. Momo sulked but followed him.

Ryoma settled himself at a window set, resting his head against the glass. He felt the seat shift as Momo sat next to him. "Ne, Momo- sempai?" he murmured.

"Yeah?"

"Do you believe houses can be haunted?"

"Of course they can."

"And hospitals?"

Momo gave him a look, "If any place is gonna be haunted, it would be a hospital. How many people die in them?"

"….Wow, you made a point. A smart point."

"Yeah I di-hey!"

Ryoma smirked a little. His attention drifted to the passing scenery. Perhaps, then, if it hadn't been a nightmare, he wasn't saying it wasn't yet, then maybe the hospital had been haunted. Some burn victim that they had assumed was going to live. It might explain that matter of the ghost. But that wouldn't explain the ghost's words…"You're mine," he jolted as he heard the words clearly. It was like someone had spoken them out loud.

He opened his eyes, when he closed them he wasn't sure. He jolted again when he saw the image of the ghostly burned creature in the reflection of the window. "Echizen? What's wrong?" Momo asked. Ryoma looked to Momo then the window again. The image was gone. "You were dozing…did you have a nightmare that quickly?"

"No," Ryoma grumpily snapped, sitting back in the seat and crossing his arms over his chest. "There wasn't a nightmare."

"Sure there wasn't. You know you can tell me anything…"

"Momo-sempai…." he started. He could figure out if he wanted to tell Momo what he saw or just insult him. Finally he just settled on glaring out the window.

"Aw now you're pouting," Momo teased.

"I am not." He most certainly wasn't; he was glaring damn it and if Momo couldn't see that than too bad for him.

"You are"

"I am not having this argument with you." Ryoma said in his annoyed tone.

"Echizen" Ryoma ignored the whine Momo gave him. The rest of the bus trip was made in sullen silence.

The silence remained even as the two left the bus to go up to Momo's apartment. Ryoma had to give it to Momo, he had a nice apartment. Better than Shinji's, better than Kamio's, better then Atobe's because it had no weird things going on it. He quickly pushed that thought aside. He wasn't going to think about Atobe OR his creepy house.

He flopped onto the couch after kicking off his shoes, snuggling into his favorite pillow. He had dragged it over here when he had been visiting and it had remained ever since. "Oi, Momo-sempai, did you check on Karupin while you were over at my place?"

"Hai, hai," Momo said, setting Ryoma's shoes in neater fashion. The sixteen year old had to smirk again; he had Momo so well trained. "I gave him food and water; he'll be fine for a couple of days. Make yourself at home," he stood. He blinked at Ryoma. "Oh…you all ready have. Tch, figures."

"Hey, this is practically like my apartment too."

"Except you don't pay rent."

"Minor detail." Momo shook his head, taking off his own shoes. He started for the couch. "Ne, you got any food, Momo-sempai? I'm hungry." Ryoma said, remembering he hadn't eaten for quite awhile.

"What a silly question! Do I have food….wait. Do I have food?" Momo frowned at himself. He went to the kitchen to search through the cupboards. "It looks like I have to go to the market," he sounded so depressed. "Want to come?"

Ryoma thought about it. Part of him felt he should go out, keep himself busy. Another part just wanted to be lazy. "No," he finally said, "you know what I like anyways."

Momo went to the door. "Why DO I stay with you sometimes, Echizen?" he demanded.

"…The thing I do with my tongue?" Ryoma rolled his head to look at him.

"…Oh yeah," there was a dorky grin. The teenager watched his boyfriend leave before settling back in the couch. He grabbed a remote, beginning to flip through channels.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, though he was pretty sure it wasn't too long, when he heard a scratching noise. He looked around in confusion. It was a slightly screeching scratch so it couldn't have been wood.

He looked to the windows. The middle one, the one that was by the fire escape, revealed a reddish furred cat. "Eiji!" he said in surprise. The feline batted at air with one paw; almost like he was waving. Ryoma went over to the window and Eiji hopped inside. "What are you doing here?"

Eiji just seemed to grin at him. He padded over to the couch to curl up. "Hn. Just like a cat." Rather than kick his friend out, he sat next to him. "Momo-sempai should be back soon with food." Ears quivered hopefully. "I'm sure we can talk him into giving you some, ne?"

There was a loud purr. Eiji changed his position from on the couch to Ryoma's lap. Once situated, Ryoma started petting his fur.

He started flipping channels again. "I wish you could talk, Eiji," he said softly, keeping his eyes on the television. "They say cats can sense things, you know? I would have liked to have known if that house was haunted."

Was it him or did Eiji's "grin" get bigger? Ryoma shut the television off after he realized there wasn't anything good on. "I suppose they're be ways to find out, huh?" He leaned back, thinking it over. "There's always the library. They have computers; I could look through those."

Eiji got up from his lap, padding over to the door. He looked expectantly at Ryoma. "What? You want to go to the library? I didn't know cats could read." Eiji looked insulted, huffing and tail lashing. "Plus I don't think they'd want you in there either."

The library seemed like a good idea. He went into the kitchen, grabbing a pad of paper and pen. He was in the middle of telling Momo where he'd be when something sharp pricked his leg. He yelped and looked down. Eiji was glaring up a little at him. "What? You really want to go with?"

There was a purr of agreement. Ryoma sighed and looked around. He spotted Momo's backpack. Dumping the contents out, he looked back at Eiji. "You'll have to go in here, okay?" Eiji bounced in, peering out. He was acting as if this was some great spy mission or a smuggling operation. Ryoma smiled a little as he straightened and hefted the backpack. "Let's go."

* * *

Momo opened the door to his apartment, carrying two bags of groceries in one arm. "Echizen! I'm back!" he called out. Everything was quiet. "Echizen? Where did he go?" he muttered as he saw Ryoma's shoes were gone.

He sighed deeply. He went into the kitchen to put the groceries away. He set them on the counter when he noticed a small note. 'Momo-sempai, went out. Be back later. Ryoma'. Some note. How was Momo supposed to know if he should worry or not?

But then again, he probably didn't have to worry too much. If Ryoma said he'd be back later, he would be back later. He pulled items from the bag and began putting them away. "Fssssssh," the soft noise gave him pause. He kept still, listening. Nothing else came. It was probably his imagination.

He went back to work. There was a loud crash from the living room. Momo flailed in surprise. He rushed out to look around. One of his lamps had been knocked over and now lied in shards. "How did that happen?" he muttered out loud. Shrugging to himself, he bent down to pick them up.

"Fsssssh." There was that strange sound again. "No one…" Okay, that couldn't have been his imagination. He looked up, falling back when his eyes focused on a tall young man. Beady black eyes glared at him from under limp black hair. But more than the fact that some strange person was in his home disturbing him, it was the rest of the person's appearance. He couldn't even be sure if he should call it a person. Half of its face was gone, burnt away on the right side. The flesh on the right arm was peeled away in the same fashion. What he could see of the leg through the fire eaten pants was missing flesh as well.

It stepped forward slowly. "No one," it repeated, "touches what belongs….to Fuji-sama."

"W-what?" Momo sputtered, crab walking back. Fuji….Fuji…how did that name sound familiar? Then it hit him. Fuji. The scar Ryoma now sported. "He doesn't know a Fuji!"

There was another sickening thump as the person moved forward. Momo backed up until he hit the wall. "No one," it said. It bent in jerky movements and picked up a shard of lamp, going closer to Momo.

Momo's eyes widened. He gave a choked yelp before the slice came down.

tbc

Yeeeeah, I'm back. I've taken care of the evil spyware problem. Evil spywhere. I'm still pimping out the LJ ryomaisfujis as well as my website SleepyKitty. I get a sense of satisfaction with it. But anyway. If you're new to this story or never got around to joining the LJ or looking at the site, I've finished it and am attempting to work on the sequels. I'll post the third part tomorrow because I'm lazy. Just so you know.


	3. Chapter 3

Part three! I forgot to upload yesterday because I have the attention span of a gerbil D: But here it is! Third part! Beware the OOC! And the Mpreg! Tha's right, mpreg

* * *

Ryoma stared at the screen, blinking slowly. He had been staring at it for over ten minutes. He had found any articles possible on the house that Atobe purchased. Apparently it had been built some time ago. It also had a number of deaths happen it. It was never the same type of death though, so it couldn't be pinned on anyone or anything.

One couple had died from sudden heart failure; an older man had just disappeared off the face of the planet; a young woman, too, had disappeared but left behind a spine; even a young child of the family nearby had been impaled on the fencing in the backyard. There was also a young man who, after reading the rest of them, had it much worse off. His eyes were gone, part of his brain had been tugged from the sockets; his tongue had been cut out as well. It gave Ryoma the shudders.

Ryoma winced at the sight of some of them. Could THEY show some of these things to the public? But there wasn't anything really suspicious in the deaths. Accidents happened. Ghosts probably would have done the same pattern over and over again.

That had been a real waste of time. At least he had gotten a change of scenery. He lifted the backpack and frowned. "….Eiji?" he peeked into it. No cat. "Eiji," he hissed. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty." He got up from the chair to search around.

He was glad there weren't that many people here today. He probably would have been thrown out by now. "Eiji!" he barked in a soft tone down one of the aisles for history. Still no sign of him. He wandered to one of the walkways that was tucked away in the corner of the library.

A lot of dust had been collecting here. Ryoma looked for some kind of sign of what books were here. Ancient History, one sign announced. Almost cautiously, he started down the lane. Strangely, sound didn't seem to reach done here. Not even his feet made a sound, unlike when he was at the computers.

Sound happened suddenly when a book struck him on the head, causing him to yelp. He looked up sharply. Eiji was peering down at him from one of the top shelves. "What was that for?" Ryoma only just remembered to keep his voice down. Eiji's ears flicked back. The teenager sighed. "Just get down here." He bent to pick up the book. He looked to the top shelf; he was definitely too short to put it away.

He shrugged, wedging it the book with some others. That's when the title caught his eyes. 'Demons of Edo'. He wasn't sure why but the title seemed to call to him. Maybe he should check it out…As he reached for it, something heavy landed on his head and clung. Claws pierced his scalp. A second passed before he flailed. The claws clenched tight, making Ryoma yelp. He flailed and yelped for a good two minutes before he flopped down, panting. "…Get off my head, Eiji."

"…nyao." Eiji's tail fell into his face, a sign of his relief.

Ryoma slowly stood up to put the book in his bag. "I mean it. Get off."

"Nyao!" Eiji poked the back of his head. Slowly, he turned to the mouth of the aisle. An older woman stood there, hands upon her hips.

"….This isn't what it looks like?"

"Oh?"

He pointed to Eiji. "This is a hat."

"And the noise?"

"…Ghosts?" A few seconds later, he was shoved outside and the door shut in his face. Ryoma pulled Eiji off his head. "This is all your fault," he accused as he set the feline on his own feet. Eiji huffed. "It WAS. Why'd you have to land on my head? Honestly. You're lucky she didn't notice the book."

The two started walking back to Momo's apartment building. As he was about to board the elevator, he got a unexpected cold sensation. He shivered, glancing over his shoulder. The two doors leading to the outside were firmly shut. The elevator dinged, singling that it wanted to go up. Shrugging off the strange chill, he got in. After the button was pushed, he leaned back and closed his eyes. His head was still throbbing from having a three hundred page book and a puff ball with claws land on it.

There was another rush of cold air as the doors parted. Again, he shivered. It seemed even colder up here than in the lobby. Maybe the owner had forgotten to pay the heating bill. He quickly left the elevator before it closed him in.

He trailed down the hall, absently counting the other apartments. At the very end pf the hallway was Momo's home. Ryoma reached for the knob but paused. Something inside him was telling him to go back, go to his own home and call Momo to say he'd rather just be there. The hairs on the back of his neck felt like they were crawling; he thought that was only possible in books.

Eiji was meowing, sniffing at the space under the entrance. He reached a paw under it. Ryoma tried to swallow to dampen his suddenly dry throat. He took the handle. Eiji skittered back when the door swung in. Almost immediately, the sixteen year old gagged. A strong odor rolled from inside the apartment. It smelled like decay; sweet, unbearably so, but unable to hide the strong scent of death. "Momo-sempai?" he choked out.

He stumbled into the apartment. "Momo-sempai!" It wasn't that big of a place; Momo should have heard him. He reached for the nearest lamp, only it wasn't there. Ryoma looked around and actually uttered a scream when his eyes landed on something that at one point in time had been his boyfriend.

Ryoma fell back into a seated position, staring into lifeless eyes. Well, one eye. The other had been gouged out. There were stab wounds all over his body; the object that had been used to commit the act was sticking from his chest. Under the blood, he could see the snout of a dragon on the piece. It was part of the lamp. The electrical chord had been wrapped tight around Momo's neck. It had been pulled so tight that it was half way into the fleshy body part.

"Oh god…" he uttered. "…M-momo-sempai…" Eiji went over to the body. Ryoma grabbed him before he could even step foot into the blood that pooled on the floor. He went to the phone.

"Hello, what's your emergency?" came a female voice. "Hello?" she repeated when Ryoma didn't respond. "Is this a prank?"

"There's been a death," Ryoma finally blurted out.

That gave the receptionist pause. "Are you sure the person's dead?"

Ryoma looked at the body. It was easier to think of it as a 'body' rather than 'former boyfriend'. "Y-yeah, I'm…pretty sure…"

"Okay, give me your location and we'll send someone right out to you."

He rattled off the address and hung up in the middle of the woman's confirmation repeat. He went over to where he had dropped his backpack. He sat, curling up. Eiji yowled as he was squished but was ignored.

What felt like hours later, he heard the sirens. He could hear the elevator come to life, bringing forth three polices officers from the hospital he had just left. "Echizen-san?" it was Detective Nakagawa who went in first. He crouched by the horror stricken boy. Azuma stood behind him while Doctor Inaba and Officer Harrison went to the dead body. "Look, I know this is hard but I need you to focus." Nakagawa placed a hand on Ryoma's shoulder.

"I think it's shock again, sir," Azuma pointed out, "This has to be worse than finding a body of someone you vaguely knew."

There was a soft sound of agreement. The detective stood, pulling Ryoma up with him. "Gues we should take him back to the hospital."

"No hospital," Ryoma said finally.

The two detectives looked at him. "Echizen-san?"

"I don't want to go there…" He didn't want to be in the same building as Momo's body anymore.

"Fine we'll take you down to the station and call…what's his name…Kamio, wasn't it?" There was a nod. "We need to ask some questions if you're up to it."

"All right," Ryoma allowed them to walk him out.

"Stay here with Harrison and Inaba," Nakagawa said to Azuma as he got Ryoma in the car. The backpack and cat were settled in his lap.

"Yes, sir," Azuma bowed and went back inside.

The drive to the police station was silent except for the occasional pitiful meow when Ryoma squeezed Eiji too hard. The inside of the station was too bright and too loud for Ryoma. It made his headache worse. But they passed through it quickly, going further inside. Nakagawa opened the door to an interrogation room. "Wait here, I'll go call Kamio-san." The door shut behind him.

Ryoma sat down in the chair. He released Eiji, who jumped onto the table and furiously started cleaning himself. "…he's dead," he whispered. The words seemed to echo loudly. "Momo-sempai…is dead."

A half hour passed, making Ryoma play the words and the image in his head. The door opened, allowing Nakagawa back in. "Kamio-san has been called. Sorry for the wait; there was a problem outside." He took the other chair. "Now then…you found Momoshiro-san like that?" A nod. "Where were you when this took place?"

"The library. Momo-sempai went to the store about five minutes before I left."

"How long were you gone?"

"I'm…I'm not sure…at least a half hour."

"I see…did he have any enemies?"

"Well, yeah…but nobody wanted to kill him."

Nakagawa leaned back. He pondered the circumstances. "Had you and Momoshiro-san been fighting lately?"

Ryoma looked up sharply, "Yes…but it wasn't ME."

He held up his hands. "I had to ask. Your story is easily confirmed or denied. Plus some of those wounds looked like they had been inflicted by someone much stronger."

Ryoma winced, falling silent. Nakagawa was at a loss. If there wasn't anyone willing to kill Momo, be it friend or foe, it meant it was probably the work of some random killer. That would make it a hundred times hard. "I'm sorry for your loss," the words were generic and he knew they wouldn't comfort the grieving boy in front of him. "We'll find who did it."

"Hn," was all he got in return.

The door opened with a forceful bang. "You can't keep me from seeing him!" Kamio snapped, shaking his fist at the poor officer who had simply been trying to figure out who he was. Nakagawa knew he shouldn't have told him where they were. Kamio turned inside. "Echizen-kun, are you okay? Stupid question," he scolded himself. He went over to Ryoma. "Can you leave now?"

Ryoma looked to Nakagawa. "Go home, get some rest." Ryoma grabbed his bag and Eiji as he followed Kamio out to his car. Cat and bag were placed in back; Eiji curled up on top of the pack, keeping an eye on his human companion.

Kamio, too, kept an eye on Ryoma as they got in. He turned on the heat as he saw the boy shivering. "Echizen…Ryoma," he said gently, "where do you want me to go? Your place or…"

There was a sharp sniff and Ryoma quickly put a hand over his face, turning to the window. "I…I don't want to be alone," he uttered in a choke tone.

Kamio gently squeeze his arm. There was a shaky release of breath and shoulders heaved a little. "Let's go then, ne?" Kamio put the car in motion. It broke his heart to hear his kouhai sniffle and fight off tears the whole way to his home. He wanted to comfort Ryoma but he didn't know how. The proud young man would probably either refuse hugs and close contact or he'd think it was a way to use Momo's demise as an advantage.

Ryoma looked around the apartment, unconsciously comparing it to Momo's apartment. He clenched his eyes shut against the tears. "I don't have a second room so you can take my room and I'll have the couch."

"I don't want to be alone," the black haired teen repeated.

"But, Ryoma…"

"….Please?"

Kamio shook his head a little. "Okay. Do you want to lie down?"

"Could I take a shower?"

"Of course ,of course." Kamio went to get him a towel and some clothes.

Once in the shower, Ryoma leaned back against the wall, letting the jets of water shoot down on him. No matter how hard he tried to fight back the tears, they kept coming. He covered his face with both hands and sobbed softly. "Momo-sempai," he said out loud, wishing that was all it took to bring him back. Slowly he leaned forward to begin washing.

He froze when he felt something cool touch his spine. It crawled up his back until it was at the base of his neck. He turned around violently. The only thing amiss was the shower curtain had been moved back. He peeked out. Nothing was wrong out there. But he had the distinct impression he was being watched. "Kamio-sempai?" he called out suspiciously. No answer.

Tentatively, he went back into the shower, closing the curtain. He turned the hot water on higher. When this stopped the light tremors, he lathered up his hair. His fingers touched other fingers as he did so. There was a frown. That wasn't right. He counted; definitely not right. He could feel all ten fingers and they were all touching this new hand. Again he spun around to look behind him. Nothing. A soft chuckle that most certainly hadn't come from him filled the stall. "…I'm going insane," he realized. "I'm going crazy."

* * *

It was silent in the early morning. Nothing had begun stirring yet. Weak, grey sunlight pushed its way into the bedroom, trying to wake the occupants on its own. Rolling clouds easily snuffed its attempt. Dimness returned to the room. One second than two passed and the area was filled with loud, annoying, upbeat, LOUD music.

Ryoma sat up sharply, causing Eiji to roll off his chest with a shocked yowl. There was a flurry of motion beside him as Kamio got up and turned off the alarm. "Sorry," he apologized as he saw the slightest of twitches beginning at the corner of Ryoma's left eye, "I forgot to shut off my alarm."

"You get up too early," came the mutter. The golden eyed boy took in his surroundings. It was a normal enough bedroom, though small. There wasn't enough room for a dresser so clean clothes were kept in a laundry basket while the dirty ones were strewn about on the floor. Nor was the room big enough for a Western style bed; the bed was really just a large padded mat that could be rolled up and put away, unlike Momo's. The mere though of his name caused his throat to clench and tears well up a little. He fought it back. "What happened last night?" he asked, proud of himself for sounding…almost normal.

Kamio gave him a confused look. "Eh?"

"After we got here…what happened?"

"Oh…well, you took a shower…after twenty minutes, I got worried. When I went into the bathroom, I found you curled up in the corner, crying." An angry blush formed on the top of Ryoma's cheeks. "You wouldn't respond…so I finally had to pull you out and get changed."

Ryoma glanced down, for the first time noticing the clothes he'd been placed in. No doubt one of Kamio's long sleeved white shirts and grey sweatpants. They hung loosely on him. "…oh, thanks."

"No problem," Kamio smiled reassuringly. It was amazing how different the eighteen year old was when not provoked by Momo. He a stab in his heart but no more tears; was the grief fading all ready? No. It couldn't be…"Are you hungry?"

Ryoma shook his head. He was feeling queasy now, feeling like he should be grieving MORE. There was a soft sound from Kamio. "What do you want to do then?"

"Sleep," came the immediate reply. Ryoma flopped over to his side, pulling the blanket up. Eiji came to lie behind him, wedging in the corner of Ryoma's back and the mat.

Kamio stared at him, "Sleep? You want to sleep?" He stopped himself from trying to drag the black haired youth out of bed. He remembered that sleeping was meant as an escape for someone locked in sorrow. Maybe Ryoma needed to escape for awhile. With a shrug, he lied down as well.

Ryoma felt the weight shift of his companion and closed his eyes. They popped open again. He squeezed them shut. He willed himself to sleep but nothing happened. Even when Kamio's breathing evened out, he was still awake. This was a switch from the last few days. He hadn't any trouble going to sleep, so why now?

He grumbled to himself, pressing his face into the pillow. Sleep wasn't coming. He finally released his eyes from their tight hold. They immediately landed on the backpack with the book in it. He pulled it close, hoping reading would make his eyes tired. 'Demons of Edo'; the title still stirred something in the back of his mind. He opened it slowly. The titles of chapters seemed to be nicknames. 'The Butcher', 'The Jackal', 'The Dark Gossip'…He began reading, tucking his head on his arm.

Sometime later his eyes felt heavier. He began to nod off. He flipped close to the back of the book. 'He was a creature of the worst kind; born with the beauty of an angel but the inner workings of a devil. He could make his victims willingly hand themselves over if he desired'. That sounded interesting enough. He went to the front of the chapter. 'The Sadistic Tensai'. He tried reading but the words blurred.

That figured; the moment he found something good, he got sleepy. He gave an undignified squeak when arms wrapped around him. He looked over, feeling relieved it was just Kamio. The last few days had left him frazzled. He was pulled close to the older boy's chest. Ryoma didn't even notice Eiji, who was giving muffled yowls at being squished. Kamio's chin rested on Ryoma's shoulder. Ryoma's eyes slipped closed; it felt nice to sleep close to someone, he thought as he drifted off.

Eiji squirmed until he got out from between the two. At least the upper half got out. His hind legs were stuck! He clawed at the mat. He couldn't get loose! What, did they glue themselves together without him knowing it?

Dark red arms abruptly reached down, pulling him out. "Nyao" he greeted as he was pulled against a chest. "Nyao, nyao" it sounded like he was trying to say something important. "Nyaaaaaaao!"

"Hnnnm," a voice murmured softly, petting Eiji's head. The being watched as the sleeping Kamio nuzzled Ryoma's neck, giving it the barest of kisses. "This isn't good. Not good at all." Neither boy stirred, not even as the creature left the bedroom.

* * *

For the second time that day, Ryoma woke up. This time there was no damnable music from some strange American pop band. He woke up because he felt soft breathing on his neck and arms tightening around his stomach. He did the first thing that came to mind; he jerked up and shoved the person behind him away. His nerves were on edge and he couldn't clearly remember who he was with.

"Ow!" came the yelp of pain. "What'd I do?"

"Oh, Kamio-sempai, oops," he murmured.

Kamio sat up, rubbing his chest a little. "Oops is all you have to say?"

Ryoma seemed to ponder that for a minute. "…Yes, yes it is."

His sempai sighed deeply before shaking his head. "You look a bit better." That was true; Ryoma looked a little less haunted but that might have been due to the fact that he had just came out of sleep.

Kamio stood, heading from the bedroom. "Oi! Echizen!" he called.

"Nani?"

"I have to go out for a l-"

"I'll go with," Ryoma said abruptly.

"You will?" Kamio poked his head back into the room. "You don't have to. I just have to go to the store."

"I'll go with," he repeated. He wasn't about to let Kamio out of his sight right now.

"Er, okay…I'll see if I can find something else you can wear out." Soon they were leaving the apartment building. Ryoma had been forced to wear Kamio's smallest jeans and a shirt, which were still too big for him. Kamio grinned slightly. "We'll have to stop by your apartment later or something."

Ryoma tugged his jacket close around him. "Hn. Whatever." They started walking to the slightly small grocery store that was nearby. Ryoma looked around as they walked; everything seemed…dark today. Few people passed them by and those that did had looks on concentration. The store seemed the same way.

Kamio grabbed a basket, all ready getting into the whole shopping experience. Ryoma just let himself wander. He kept Kamio in his line of sight the entire time. He wasn't going to risk anything with this sempai.

He wandered the aisles for some time when he realized he did exactly what he hadn't wanted to. He'd lost Kamio. "Kamio-sempai?" he called. It would be okay; it wasn't THAT big of a store. "Kamio-sempai?"

Ryoma turned another corner and froze. The lights seemed to dim around him. The world had a strangely muffled sound. It felt like he was going to pass out; he really wished he could.

At the end of lane was someone. It was bare foot and had a blue tint to it, like Atobe's body had been. It was surrounded by a dark red puddle of blood. Green-ish hair hung limp to cover the eyes. There was a strange gurgling noise coming from it.

He started to back up. With every step he took, the person came forward. The gurgling was starting to resemble sounds…words almost. "….echi….zen…" that had most definitely sounded like his name. "Echizen….."

"What are you!" he finally got out.

"Echizen…."

"How do you know me?"

"…you have to leave…" the words sounded garbled, making it difficult to understand it. Finally the man, Ryoma could at least tell that, looked up. The youth gagged in horror. The eyes were completely missing, blood pooling from the sockets. They almost resembled tears. The mouth on this victim opened wide, revealing no tongue.

That explained why it was having such a difficult time talking. "What are you?" he repeated. He flailed as he slipped on something. He fell back, feeling behind him. His fingers came back red.

He looked around himself. Blood was all over the floor. He looked up, not really wanting to. A young child was there, a gaping hole in his stomach. "Leave…" the boy whispered, "Before it's too late…."

"What-" he started but let out a terrified yelp as the person with no eyes suddenly was in front of him, gripping his shoulders.

"Echizen!" the words were clear now; not garbled. He was shaken sharply. Something other than blood was oozing from the sockets; it was grey and lumpy, like melted brains. "Echizen, wake up!"

He bolted into a sitting position, unsure of when he had been lying down. He gasped for air, jerking from the grip sharply. He blinked. It was bright again…a few customers of the shop were gathered around. Kamio was kneeling before him, eyes concerned. "…..what happened?" Ryoma finally asked.

"You passed out…and had a nightmare…" Kamio said carefully.

Ryoma's cheeks lighted slightly with redness. All these people had witnessed his nightmare. He stood, moving past them. "I'll be waiting outside," he snapped. All Kamio could do was blink helplessly.

* * *

Things were a bit strained after the "episode". Ryoma knew Kamio was itching to ask him if he was all right. He also knew that Kamio knew Ryoma would not appreciate being reminded of what happened. Ryoma couldn't believe he had passed out.

He couldn't really believe it had been a dream either. Everything about it seemed too real; like everything else that had been happening. But he was confused as to what the ghosts, for they could only have been ghosts, had meant. 'Leave before it's too late'. Leave where? The store? The city? The country? His only answer was a shudder as, instead of coming up with an answer, he got images of the two ghosts.

"I'm going to put this stuff away and make some ramen, okay?" Kamio offered after they got in the apartment.

"That's fine," came the automatic reply. Kamio glanced at him but Ryoma was all ready heading to the couch, a slightly blank look on his face. With a shake of his head, he went to the small kitchenette.

Ryoma stared at the television in front of him. Well, he wasn't really staring at IT; more like it got in the way of his staring. He kept trying to get the answers without thinking of the messengers. He kept getting distracted by the sounds of Kamio in the kitchen; there were quite a bit of curses as the eighteen year old kept forgetting how small of space he was in and running into things.

Ryoma stood, going to the bedroom. His book was still there, just waiting for him. He tucked it under his arm, deciding to go back to his comfy nest that was Kamio's couch. Kamio was still cursing out his kitchenette and its shady lineage; Ryoma had to wonder if kitchens HAD lineage.

But whatever, he wasn't going to concentrate on that. What Kamio did in his kitchen was his own business. He opened the book up in his lap. The Sadistic Tensai was still waiting for him. He tucked himself in the corner. 'The Sadistic Tensai was a demon in every sense of the word. He enjoyed watching someone suffer, especially if it was himself who caused the pain.' Sounded like a real winner in Ryoma's opinion. Sounded like quite a few people he knew too.

He kept reading. Apparently, this Tensai had quite a few followers and enemies. He was the demon you hated or loved, you couldn't tolerate him. It was pretty obvious that most of his enemies were humans.

He kept reading, his interest suddenly hitting almost new heights. 'When this dastardly creature set his eyes on someone-" Ryoma looked to the next page. 'Fifty years after…' He frowned, going back to the other page. The words didn't match up. He looked to the numbers. Two pages were missing. He opened the book further, peering at the edges inside. It must have been a clear tear.

"What are you looking at?" Kamio suddenly questioned.

Ryoma jumped, slamming the book shut. He looked up. The red head had two bowls in his hand that had steam rising out of it. "Finished yelling at your kitchen?" he countered.

Kamio snorted. "Kitchen started it," he muttered. He thrust the bowl into Ryoma's hands before sitting next to him. Kamio started eating but Ryoma just stared into his. Seconds ticked by. "What? Isn't it any good? I know I'm not a great cook, but I thought…"

"No…it's fine," Ryoma said softly, taking a sip to appease his friend.

Kamio stared at Ryoma for a minute. He wasn't really liking this docile creature that had taken place of the feisty high schooler he knew. "Oh…good. I thought I had some ruined ramen."

Ryoma started tuning him out, still sipping. But the warm liquid was settling strangely in his stomach and he knew it would be worse if he tried the noodles. He set the bowl down, wrapping his arms around himself. Kamio watched him before he set aside his dinner. "Ryoma…"

"Yeah?"

There was a hesitation. He hadn't really had anything else to say. "About Momo…" he really hadn't wanted to talk about him. The words had popped out of his mouth on accident.

Ryoma turned away. "I don't want to talk about him," there was a slight shudder in his voice. Good. That solved that problem. But now Ryoma was depressed again by the sound of it and the sight of the barest tremors going through his shoulders. Kamio hugged him slightly. "Kamio-sempai?"

This wasn't fair…not at all. He got to be close to Ryoma without Momo around and it was under the worst circumstances. He carefully kissed Ryoma's neck, trying to convey some kind of soothing, or so he told himself. There was another shudder, which seemed to encourage him.

Kamio gently kissed Ryoma's cheek before his lips. "Kamio-sempai," Ryoma uttered into the kiss, trying to turn around. Kamio loosened his hold but his hands didn't leave Ryoma's body.

"I'm sorry….about Momo…" the red head whispered. He was just trying to make the younger boy feel better. That was all. His fingers of his right hand started toying with the belt on the jeans he lent Ryoma.

Ryoma was squirming in his grasp, hands clenching at his shoulder. "Kamio-sempai!"

"What is it?" Kamio was close to exasperation.

"Stop!" Ryoma yelped and he actually sounded scared. Kamio pulled back in confusion. That's when he noticed his hand was starting to bury itself into Ryoma's pants. "Just….stop!"

Kamio pulled back quickly. "Ryoma…Echizen," he corrected himself quickly, "I'm sorry…I don't know what…"

Ryoma refused to look at him. "I'm going home."

Kamio looked confused. "You shouldn't be alon-"

"I'm going home!" he snapped, standing and buckling up the belt.

"I'm sorry!" Kamio scrambled after him.

"I'll call you later, Kamio-sempai," Ryoma said in almost a shaky tone as he slipped on his shoes.

"Echizen-" the door slammed shut on his new apology. "…damn."

Ryoma angrily stalked down the street that led to the park that would take him home. He jammed his hands deep into the pockets of his jacket. What had gotten into Kamio? It wasn't like him to do such a thing…

But maybe it was Ryoma who was at fault. Maybe he had been giving some kind of 'I want you' vibes in mistake. The last few days had been confusing so maybe…

He entered the park and frowned. Some of the lights were burnt out. It was only 5:30 but darkness had descended quickly. Ryoma really didn't want to walk through total darkness. If he didn't, though, he'd have to take a long way around.

He shook his head sharply at himself. He was being foolish. There was nothing waiting for him out there. A person has a few nightmares and he begins expecting all kind of nasty things waiting in the shadows. Taking a deep breath, he entered the abyss.

Half way through the walk, he was beginning to consider himself even more foolish. He frowned as he heard footsteps. Of course there would be other people here. It was still early in the evening. He looked over his shoulder, trying to spot the person who was back there. The footsteps stopped.

He turned forward again. He was almost out of the park. He tensed as the wind blew harshly. He picked up his pace a little. The wind blew again, this time sounding almost like it was speaking to him. 'Mine' the wind seemed to whisper. That was crazy. Even if it was crazy, his pace quickened even more, practically jogging to his house. Through the jogging, he could still hear the footsteps.

He fumbled with his keys at his front door. It took him two tries to get the key in the lock. He quickly went in, closing and locking the door behind him. To be safe, he went to the windows on the first floor, locking them and closing the curtains.

There was a soft meow and something warm leaned against his legs. "Karupin," he smiled a little. He crouched down, picking up the cat. "Did you miss me?" Karupin purred. He hugged it, starting to head upstairs.

"Why are things like this, Karupin?" Ryoma questioned.

"Nyao" Karupin offered his wisdom.

"This is all Ibu-sempai's fault. He should have watched the monkey's house. This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't gone into that house." He frowned as that seemed to make sudden sense. The house….and all the strange happenings…He felt as if he had almost made a connection when a wave of drowsy struck him. He stumbled, dropping Karupin. The cat uttered a yowl and shook its fur.

Ryoma made his way to his bedroom, going to his bed. He collapsed on it, trying to keep his wits about him.

Sleep descended on him gradually. He yawned loudly, snuggling his head into his pillow. "Echizen…" he stirred at the voice. "Echizen, wake up."

"go 'way," he muttered.

"Tch, is that how you talk to your sempai?"

His eyes opened lethargically. Momo looked down at him, grinning. "Momo-sempai?" he said in shock.

Momo didn't answer verbally; he leaned down, kissing him deeply. Ryoma eagerly responded to the kiss, wrapping his arms around the young man. He frowned a little. Momo…felt different. He didn't feel bulky. "I missed you," Momo smiled.

"….you're dead," Ryoma finally whispered.

"Tch! What a thing to say!" Momo grumbled. "I thought you'd be happy to see me!"

"I am!" Ryoma tried to reassure when it came to him. This was a dream. It had to be. Momo was still dead and he could still feel the hazy edges of sleep. "Just…surprised." At least in dreams, he could pretend.

The smile returned to the violet eyed man's face. "Good surprise I hope."

Was it just him or did Momo's smile seem more….calculating? "It is." Ryoma kissed Momo to placate him. Momo's hands began wandering, disappearing under the shirt to stroke the smooth stomach beneath. "Momo-sempai."

"I've missed you," he breathed, "Mine…" The hand dipped past the waist band of the jeans. Ryoma bit his lip a little. It wasn't really like Momo to be this forward. He at least would spend a couple of minutes just teasing him.

Not that he was going to complain. It felt good to have Momo back. Momo's hand came up to stroke Ryoma's cheek. There was another quick kiss on the younger boy's lips before they moved down to his neck.

Ryoma squirmed, clutching a Momo. He could feel the hand that had been in the jeans pull out for a minute to tug away the material. He practically, purred as he arched into the touch.

He had missed this; like how it had been in the beginning. Like they were exploring each other. Maybe this was a strange combination of past and present. It felt like he was discovering new things about Momo.

He wanted this to last forever. He knew he couldn't but maybe if he pretended…

He groaned as the ringing of the phone got his attention. He sat up; stupid dreams. He blinked as he realized he was still sans jeans and he felt distinctly sticky. (1) He blushed. The slight embarrassment was broken again by the ringing of the phone.

Jeans were quickly grabbed after he wiped himself off using the sheets. He hobbled into the pants, practically falling to the phone table. "Hello?" he responded. There was silence; then, faintly a choking sound came. "Hello? Who is this?"

"Echi…..zen…" his name sounded force.

"….Kamio-sempai?" it took him a minute to place the voice.

There was that pained, gagging noise. "….h…elp…" Ryoma could hear the phone clatter and there was a thud of a body hitting the wood floor. He frowned deeply, slamming the phone down and rushing outside. He didn't even bother putting on his shoes.

The icy chill didn't bother him as he concentrated on running. He bolted up the stairs of the apartment building. He thought he might have passed someone on those stairs but he hadn't been concentrating enough to be positive.

The door to Kamio's apartment was firmly shut. One quick twist of the knob, though proved that it was still unlocked. "Kamio-sempai?" he called out cautiously. Ryoma was getting a sense of foreboding again. He was going to find Kamio's mutilated corpse just like he found Momo's, he was sure of it!

A hand clutched at his leg and he fell back. Ryoma started hyperventilating. He looked down. Kamio was lying there, gagging and sputtering. A bit of red liquid was leaking from his mouth. At his side was a shattered glass along with more red liquid. It was like the blue fluid at Atobe's house; it bubbled even after being spilt.

"Kamio-sempai. You're okay. ….Kind of. We'll get you to a hospital or something," Ryoma assured him. The grip on the boy's leg lessened as Ryoma got into a better sitting position. He focused on the phone when Kamio gave two sharp, clogged gasps. Ryoma turned around sharply.

Kamio's eyes were huge, no longer focused on Ryoma but on the hand that now clenched HIS leg. Ryoma's eyes copied Kamio's. The hand was charred and peeling. It connected to an arm, which was connected to a body. Ryoma stared with shock. This person seem to resemble that one that had visited him in the hospital in the essence that his skin had been made extra crispy. But unlike that one, the one before them had spiked hair that still had seemed to have smoke rising off it and it had a pair of glasses that were cracked.

"…echi…." Kamio started but was cut off as…the-whatever-it-was started dragging him off. The red head's fingers clenched on Ryoma's ankle once more and he was actually dragged a couple of feet before the fingers lost their hold.

Ryoma remained frozen when Kamio was dragged into the bedroom. He quickly scrambled up to follow. He was just in time to see the creature disappear into the closet, still dragging Kamio with. He ran over and looked in. The closet was empty. It was empty!

He stumbled back, landing heavily on the still unrolled bed mat. He fell back into a lying position, eyes beyond wide. He was going crazy. Maybe he had all ready been crazy and he was just having some hallucination from a padded cell.

But he couldn't be crazy. He hadn't doubted his sanity until…until he had entered Atobe's house. Everything had been fine until that point. His entire world seem to crash down after the first moment he stepped in there. The strange feeling of being watched, the creatures, the deaths…

Then the connection reared up again like it had before he had fallen asleep. The house. The damn house. He remembered the deaths that had happened there; the ghosts from the market were two of the victims. He scrambled into a sitting position and then up to get to the living room. Demons of Edo had given landmarks of where the homes of demons had been.

He vaguely recalled familiar sounding landmarks in the chapter of the Sadistic Tensai. He started reading again. It was the same area, if not the same house, as Atobe's. He went to the final page of the chapter. 'After fifty years, the humans grew wary of the Tensai's rule. In the night, they went to the place where he and his followers slept and burned it to the ground. It was determined by the people that so long as no human set foot on the land, the ghosts will never be able to harm them'. That explained why those creatures looked the way they did. Even if it wasn't Atobe's house, it was one of those houses near it. He remembered his father telling him once they paved over a lot of ground to build house.

It was a house filled with demons. That could be the only explanation; a house with the ghosts of demons. He stood, frowning deeply.

His journey was a blur. All he was sure of that one minute he had been in Kamio's apartment, the next he was walking from the gas station, gas tank in hand. He was surprised he hadn't been kicked out since he didn't have his shoes.

He stared at the red tank in slight confusion. The blur had scrubbed out what he was going to do temporarily. His feet, though, knew exactly where he was going. He was in front of the house soon and the darkness he had felt in the very beginning was back. If this wasn't the house…at least he'd be getting his aggression out. But he was more than positive that this was the house.

Swallowing almost nervously, he went up to the front door and entered. He started unscrewing the container's cap when a hand grabbed his. He yelped, trying to pull back and looking up sharply. A young man with light brown hair and dark eyes was there. Ryoma felt some relief. He wasn't burnt up like everyone else he had seen. But….he had been caught. "So you're the one…" he started.

"The one what?" Ryoma demanded, trying to get his arm free. The tank fell from his hand, spilling gasoline onto the floor.

The liquid spread to a new pair of feet. "Hoi! Oishi!" the red head backed up a couple of steps, latching onto someone with black hair and greenish eyes.

Ryoma frowned deeply. "When did you people get here? You shouldn't be here!"

"Aw, Ochibi's worried about us!" the red head grinned, "No worries, no worries! We live here!"

"It's dangerous here," he tried getting his point across. He wasn't sure how he could tell them this was a house inhabited by demons. They'd have him arrested for being crazy. They might still arrest him for attempt of arson.

The one called Oishi shook his head, "Eiji's right. We're fine. We've lived here for many years. Right, Taka-san?" The light brown haired boy nodded.

"That's…that's not true!" Ryoma shook his head. "The monkey king lived here before!"

There was a creak of stairs and Ryoma's attention jerked upwards. Two more people were there. A young man with dark hair that peeked out from under a dark blue bandana; he was clad in a tank top with shorts. The man next to him was taller with spiky hair and square glasses. Ryoma started; it look almost like the creature that had taken Kamio…only he wasn't scarred horribly by fire. "Ii data," the one with glasses murmured.

"…what…" Ryoma said in confusion. He was starting to feel dizzy. "You can't have been here…"

"Now, now, everyone, you're confusing the poor boy." Ryoma wanted to faint as another voice reached his ears. A young man stepped down the stairs, passing the man with glasses and the hissing one.

Ryoma found himself backing up. This was the….creature that had visited him in the hospital. The same hair, the same smile. The only difference was now this being was wearing a white shirt with frog buttons and clingy leather pants. "What the hell are you?" Ryoma finally choked out, trying to find the knob of the door.

The creature smiled more, practically oozing danger. "Saaa, I think you know," he glanced at the gas tank that was lying on its side.

"…A demon….you're the Sadistic Tensai." Ryoma tried to keep his grin from showing as his hand clutched the handle.

There was a light chuckle, "I haven't been called that for…oh, I'd say ten years." Ryoma actually yelped as the Tensai was in front of him, putting hands on either side of his head so the door remained close. "But you may call me Fuji." The eyes opened, revealing the strange blue. "Don't think you can run from me, Ryoma-kun. I won't allow it."

"You killed Momo-sempai. And Kamio-sempai."

That just made Fuji smile more. "Actually that was Inui and Kaidoh," he gestured to the two on the stairs, "But…I DID tell them to take care of them."

Ryoma frowned, not even bothering to look them. He felt like he was caught in the eyes before him. "…Why? Why did you kill them? Why me?"

"They touched you," Fuji's face darkened. "They touched you after I went to the trouble of marking you." His hand dipped into the loose clothing, touching the scarred spot. Ryoma tried to jerk away. "As for why you…you fascinate me."

Ryoma twitched, "I fascinate you."

Fuji chuckled, "Yes, exactly." He stroked Ryoma's cheek almost gently. "You have such a willful attitude and it makes you adorable."

"I am not adorable!" Ryoma snapped. His eyes went huge as Fuji dove in and kissed him deeply. There was a brush of a tongue at Ryoma's lips but he refused to open his mouth.

Fuji pulled back, eyes closing again. "You're really cute when you're upset."

Ryoma felt his cheeks flaming with redness. "…S-so what? You're….going to rape me before you kill me?"

Again his cheek was stroked, "Oh no, of course not. I mean, I can get you willingly to come to me. Like in your house." The features seemed to change, morphing into something familiar. "It was fun, ne?" he said in Momo's voice.

"You….bastard!" Ryoma snapped. He raised his hand as if to smack Fuji but it was swiftly grabbed.

The features melted back into the tensai. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Ryoma-kun, you wouldn't win against me."

"So kill me and get it over with! You can find someone else to mess with!"

"This is true…but I really don't want to go to the trouble of finding the right person. Plus getting them pregnant…" It was so casually that Ryoma almost breezed over it in his anger at this demon.

But he didn't. He replayed the sentence. "What! Pregnant!"

Fuji looked innocently shocked. "Of course. Didn't know? When I took on your former boyfriend's appearance…"

"I can't be pregnant! I'm a guy!"

"Maaa, that's true. It'll be interesting to have Inui deliver it," he said with obscene cheer.

Ryoma started shaking. "How would you even know-"

Fuji leaned in, eyes opening once more, locking them to Ryoma's. "I can feel it, in here," his hand touched Ryoma's stomach. "I can feel it as it begins growing. I know it's there."

Ryoma couldn't look away from those eyes, no matter how much he wanted to. "It…can't be true…"

"But it is, Ryoma-kun. You should feel honored that I chose you."

"No…"

"It's not so bad," the words sounded so soothing. "You'll like it here with us…in no time at all…you'll forget there even was a Kamio or Momo."

* * *

There was much speculation when a certain Kamio Akira didn't show up for work. He didn't show up for weeks. Echizen Ryoma, as well, didn't show up to school after that. The speculation said that maybe, just maybe, the two had been working together; they had killed the poor Momoshiro boy that people had all read about in the newspaper. After waiting a day, they had run off together.

Others, though, speculated that it was the house's work. That came from those that lived nearby said house and had been around when people had died and gone missing. They knew Echizen had entered that house and perhaps…he had let something else out.

But if that were the case, why was the couple still alive? Shortly after Kamio and Ryoma's disappearances had been brought to light, a young couple by the name of Oishi Shuichiro and Kikumaru Eiji had moved in. It was like they sprung up over night. Nothing bad ever happened to them, but no one in the neighbor could really shake the feeling that it was the house…

The End

Wasn't the delightful? Yes, I'm very aware of the fact many things are left open. That's what sequels are for! This story is going to have two sequels: Ryoma's Baby and as of yet an untitled one. I don't know if Ryoma's Baby is going up here since you really don't need to read it to understand what the heck will be going on in the next sequel.

Anyway! I have Suicide Club and Ichi the Killer to watch! Away!


End file.
